Discouraged people don’t need critics. They hurt enough already. They need encouragement. They need a refuge–a willing, caring, available someone.
From Proverbs 25:11: “A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in a setting of silver.”
Who of us has not longed for a word from God, searched for a glimpse of His power, or yearned for the reassurance of His presence, only to feel that He seems absent from the moment. Yet later, we realize how very present He was all along.
From Psalm 23:1-3: “The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures; he leads me beside still waters; he restores my soul. He leads me in right paths for his name’s sake.”
We live our lives under the careful, loving, gracious, albeit sovereign, hand of our God. And the movements of time and history tick off according to His reckoning, exactly as He ordained.
From Psalm 31:14-15: “But I trust in You, O Lord; I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand.”
Charles Swindoll (born 1934) is an American pastor and Christian author.
It is only through Scripture, applied to our hearts by the Holy Spirit, that we receive the grace to trust God in everything.
From Hebrews 10:39: “But we are not among those who shrink back and so are lost but among those who have faith and so preserve our souls.”
Acceptance is resting in God’s goodness, believing that He has all things under His control.
From Proverbs 16:9: “The human mind plans the way, but the Lord directs the steps.”
Pride, fear, resentment, and habit are all tough evidences of the flesh. But those who are being shaped into the image of Christ do not go the way of the flesh.
From 1 Timothy 4:7-8: “Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come.”
Think it over. Are you living every day as if it’s your last for His Glory? Do you remain balanced, cheerful, winsome, and stable, anticipating His return?
From 1 Thessalonians 4:16: “For the Lord himself, with a cry of command, with the archangel’s call and with the sound of God’s trumpet, will descend from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first.”
To make this thing called life work, we gotta lean and support. Especially in God’s family . . . where working together is Plan A for survival.
From 1 John 5:1-2: “Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ has been born of God, and everyone who loves the parent loves the child. By this we know that we love the children of God, when we love God and obey His commandments.”
Stay open to a new idea for at least five minutes. You could be surprised at the benefit of remaining open those three hundred seconds.
From Isaiah 43:19: “I am about to do a new thing; now it springs forth; do you not perceive it? I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”
God knows, right down to the final nub, exactly where you are in life. He sees. He cares. He is aware. And best of all, He is touched by it.
From Exodus 3:7: “Then the Lord said, ‘I have observed the misery of My people who are in Egypt; I have heard their cry on account of their taskmasters. Indeed, I know their sufferings.'”
Big Sky Buckeye 